Building Eberron Adventures - Forgotten Relics

“Forgotten Relics” is a short adventure for a party of four to six 1st-level characters, who advance to 2nd level by the adventure’s conclusion. It is set in Sharn and serves as an introduction to the city. A balance of character classes is helpful, since the adventurers will face a variety of challenges.

Story Overview

Niho Koi, an imposing oni and Daask sub-boss in Sharn, ordered a half-ogre lieutenant named Garra to assemble a team and search the ruins of Old Sharn for arcane relics at the behest of someone much higher up in the organization. With a lot of ground to cover beneath the City of Towers, Garra kidnapped Caden d’Orien, the only son of Alden d’Orien, forcing Alden to use his position in his dragonmarked house to recruit out-of-work warforged—people no one would miss—to scour Old Sharn’s ruins. Alden branded the work as a “secret research-gathering mission” for his house, paid the warforged workers for their silence, and signed them to binding contracts.

It took several weeks of dangerous exploring and a few deaths, but eventually the warforged workers found a library of arcane texts and schemas buried in the ruins. These items were moved to a Daask safe house in Tavick’s Landing near the Terminus Lightning Rail station. The organization plans to smuggle the relics out Breland to Droaam with Alden’s help.

Coal, a destitute warforged hired by Alden, witnessed her good friend Razor die, executed in the ruins of Old Sharn as an example to the other workers. Coal made an appointment to talk to Sergeant Germaine Vilroy of the Sharn Watch, to report the shady operation, Razor’s murder, and the kidnapping of the House Orien scion, Caden. Thanks to crooked members of the Sharn Watch in Daask’s pocket, Garra found out about the appointment and dispatched killers to prevent Coal from ratting out the operation.

Germaine is also crooked, but she is on the payroll of the Boromar Clan crime syndicate, whose members are enemies of Daask. Not wanting to put the Sharn Watch or herself between two criminal organizations at war, Germaine called in a few old contacts to meet with Coal and find out what’s going on.

Running the Adventure

This adventure requires the fifth edition D&D rulebooks (Player’s Handbook, Dungeon Master’s Guide, and Monster Manual). You should read the entire adventure before attempting to run it. If you’d prefer to play, you shouldn’t read any farther.

Text that appears in a box like this is meant to be read aloud or paraphrased for the players when their characters first arrive at a location or under a specific circumstance, as described in the text.

The Monster Manual contains statistics for many of the creatures found in this adventure. When a creature’s name appears in bold type, that’s a visual cue pointing you to the creature’s stat block in the Monster Manual. If the stat block appears elsewhere, the adventure’s text tells you so.

Adventure Summary

The adventure begins one evening in Upper Central Plateau, where the characters meet Sergeant Germaine Vilroy, who hires them to meet with a warforged named Coal, hear her out, and bring her back to Vilroy for further questioning. Coal has already been told to wait for the characters at the Cog Carnival, a warforged bar in the High Walls district of Lower’s Tavick’s Landing.

After talking to Coal and learning her employer was Alden d’Orien, the characters are confronted by Daask forces sent to kill Coal. If they survive the fight, the characters can meet with Alden in the Mithral Tower district Upper Central Plateau. The scion stays tight-lipped, but Vishtai, Alden’s kalashtar bodyguard, telepathically gives the characters directions to the Old Sharn ruin where Caden d’Orien is imprisoned.

If Caden is rescued and returned to his father, Alden shares what he knows of Daask’s operation and tells the characters where to find Garra. The half-ogre knows the characters are coming for her. She tries to flee on a lightning rail while drawing them into a trap. If the characters chase down the half-ogre, she attempts to make a deal to keep her freedom, which they can either refuse or accept, setting the stage for further adventures.

How Do You Know Vilroy?

Before the adventure begins, inform each character that they are an acquaintance of Sergeant Germaine Vilroy of the Sharn Watch, a Brelish veteran of the Last War. Ask each character to come up with a friendly connection to Germaine, or have them choose or roll on the Germaine Connections table. If a rolled connection doesn’t make sense with the character’s background, simply roll for a new connection or choose one that seems appropriate.

Germaine Connections

Starting the Adventure

Once the players are ready to begin, read or paraphrase the following boxed text to them:

An orange glow covers the top of Lyrandar Tower as the sun sinks in the sky. Above, the great airships of House Lyrandar float like leviathans surrounded by brilliant rings of elemental energy. Below, bridges crisscross at all levels of the city, connecting Sharn’s great towers. The sounds of crying children, barking vendors, cursing skycoach drivers, and braying hippogriffs rise up to become a unique din that can only be heard in the City of Towers.

Each of you carries a letter from your acquaintance Sergeant Germaine Vilroy of the Sharn Watch that reads, “I’m calling on you for a job. I can’t write the details, but it pays well and requires your skills. Meet me at the airship dock on top of Lyrandar Tower. Come armed.”

Have the players introduce their characters to each other, if they aren’t already acquainted. Ask characters who aren’t from Sharn how they arrived, perhaps on an airship (likely paid for by Germaine whose Kundarak account is flush with Boromar gold) or a lightning rail. For characters who are Sharn natives, provide a brief description of various districts that fit the characters' backgrounds if needed using the information in chapter 3.

This is also a good time for characters to make personal connections that might link them, such as having the same birthplace, fighting for the same side in the Last War, or having common backgrounds or interests. Once the characters' relationships to one another have been established, read or paraphrase the following boxed text to the players:

As darkness descends on the city, you see windows light up the towers around you from bottom to top. A cool wind whisks between you, drowning out the other noises of the city. A nearby lift rises, carrying a human in her mid-thirties with close cropped black hair and a glowing pipe in her mouth. Germaine gives a wry smile as she nods to you all, saying, “Thanks for coming.”

Sergeant Germaine Vilroy (neutral female Brelish human veteran) greets the characters then gets down to business.

Roleplaying Sergeant Vilroy

The Sharn Inquisitive—AT THE MERCY OF MERCENARIES

It seems the Sharn Watch is outsourcing more and more of their jobs to contractors, also known as adventurers, also known as mercenaries, which is what these blood-soaked hirelings are. While many of these second-rate thugs act like they have the absolute authority of the Sharn Watch, know your rights! These sellswords can get away with atrocities, including murder, but only if such crimes are committed in the pursuit of their contracts. Should one of these ruffians steal from or harm you or your loved ones for no reason other than their barbaric attitudes, report them to the Watch and this publication immediately. The Sharn Watch is bound by law to arrest these hooligans when they show their criminal natures.

Germaine is gruff and doesn’t like wasting time. She gives the characters the information she has and tries to send them on their way before they can ask questions about her involvement in the case. The sooner the characters solve her problem, the sooner she can get back to collecting extra money from the Boromar Clan for doing nothing other than ignoring their crimes.

Germaine gives the characters the following information:

• Germaine has an appointment to meet with a warforged named Coal, who claims to have knowledge of a crime being committed in Old Sharn. Germaine wants the party to meet with Coal first and see if what she says adds up. Germaine is worried that, with her status as a Watch sergeant, her presence will call undue attention and endanger Coal.
• Germaine can give the characters 25 gp each now and another 50 gp each if they bring in Coal.
• If the characters consent to meet with Coal, Germaine provides the location of the Cog Carnival, a bar in High Walls frequented by warforged, and the appointed meeting time.
• Germaine also provides a Sharn Watch writ of enforcement. The writ authorizes the bearers to conduct official duties of the Watch under Sergeant Vilroy’s authority. City workers and other members of the Watch respect the writ, sometimes grudgingly, as long as the characters don’t engage in flagrantly illegal activity.

Germaine tries to play up her concern for Coal as her reason for hiring the characters, but a character who succeeds on a Wisdom (Insight) check contested by the Germaine’s Charisma (Deception) check can sense that she’s holding something back. A character who talks to Germaine privately and succeeds on a DC 13 Charisma (Persuasion) check gets her to reveal that she sometimes takes money from the Boromar Clan to look into crimes, and the family is interested in Coal’s information (though Germaine also points out that the characters really are Coal’s best shot at surviving this ordeal, what with Coal being caught between the two largest criminal syndicates in the city).

If the characters have no place to stay in Sharn, Germaine puts them up at Ghallanda Hall in Middle Dura for the duration of their investigation.

High Walls

Sharn’s neighborhood of High Walls in Lower Tavick’s Landing is a district mostly enclosed by walls. All of the bridges from other districts to High Walls have massive, magically warded gates that can be sealed at a moment’s notice. Each gate incorporates a fortified Sharn Watch station. The neighborhood is home to refugees of the Last War, mainly the displaced peoples of Cyre.

When the characters arrive in the district, read or paraphrase the following boxed text to the players:

The stench of body odor, garbage, and tobacco mix together in the streets. High walls cut this district’s crumbling, vandalized buildings off from the rest of Sharn, though towers rise over the walls like imposing sentries. Many people stand idly on street corners, eying you suspiciously and keeping to themselves.

It is a simple matter to find the Cog Carnival, and just about any resident can give directions. It’s the only warforged bar in the neighborhood.

The Cog Carnival

The Cog Carnival is a dilapidated warforged dive bar. The bar has a crumbling stone outside marred with graffiti that says things like, “Forged Are Scrap!” and “Leave, Metalheads!” Ingot, a neutral warforged soldier (see chapter 6) with a carved chunk of wood replacing a severed foot, collects a cover fee from creatures that enter the room. Warforged can enter the building for free, but other humanoids must pay 5 cp each.

When the characters enter the Cog Carnival, read or paraphrase the following boxed text to the players:

Smoky, low flames in a fireplace barely illuminate the cracked stone walls and filthy floor of this establishment. The single-room space is crowded with warforged with severed digits or limbs, scars, burns, and other wounds. Other warforged in the area are gathered around traditional dice, card, dart, and board games as well as carnival competitions such as throwing metal rings onto posts, tossing a ball at a tower of weighted iron cups hard enough to make them fall down, and striking a homemade machine hard enough with a hammer to make it ring a bell.

A small bar in the corner serves cheap ale. Behind this bar, a warforged bartender shouts jeers at patrons losing games.

Smelt, a lawful good warforged soldier (see chapter 6), is the owner of the Cog Carnival. She wanted to create a safe place where warforged could gather and socialize in this district. She can’t afford the city’s expensive gambling license, so she made the Cog Carnival a place where warforged can play games for free.

Anybody Know Coal?

The warforged patrons of the Cog Carnival do not freely give information about their own to outsiders. If asked about Coal, most of them remain tight-lipped. A character who provides a bribe of 1 gp or succeeds on a DC 13 Charisma (Persuasion) check convinces one of the patrons to point out who Coal is: a black, one-armed metal warforged sitting alone near the bar.

Coal, a neutral good warforged soldier (see chapter 6), is missing her right arm. If the characters approach her without identifying that they work for Sergeant Vilroy, Coal immediately notifies the bartender, Smelt, that she’s being bothered by the party. If things start to get tense, Coal gets spooked and bugs out; move on to “Catching Coal,” below.

Chatting with Coal

If the characters mention Sergeant Vilroy as they meet Coal, she stays calm but still asks why Vilroy didn’t come herself. Vilroy’s explanation to the party about attracting attention soothes Coal, as does the party explaining they are Vilroy’s trusted confidants.

Once Coal is calmed, she hurriedly explains the kidnapping of a child from House Orien, the murder of her friend Razor, and Daask’s hunt for artifacts in Old Sharn. Just as Coal is finishing her exposition, a bolt of fire explodes inches from Coal’s head, causing bedlam in the Cog Carnival. Coal runs for her life, shouting that the party set her up. The chase is on!

Catching Coal

Coal sprints 60 feet away from the characters into High Wall’s streets, intent on escape. The warforged has no particular destination in mind. She simply wants to get away from the characters, whom she believes set her up to be assassinated. This chase takes place in the “theater of the mind,” and there is no map for it.

If Coal runs away and the characters pursue her, use the chase rules and urban chase complications in chapter 8 of the Dungeon Master’s Guide to resolve the scene. The chase ends when the characters catch up to Coal or after three rounds, when a Daask hit squad intercepts Coal as she runs through an alley.

Daask Hit Squad

If they fail to catch up to Coal before the Daask hit squad attacks, the characters hear the warforged scream for help in a nearby alley. If the characters rush to help her, they find the warforged unconscious on the ground, but stable, surrounded by the Daask criminals. If the characters resolve the chase by catching up to Coal, the Daask criminals attack as soon as the chase ends, and the warforged aids the characters in battle.

The Daask force consists of Hound, a chaotic evil female shifter (see chapter 6), leading three cranky Kobold and one kobold acolyte. Each Daask criminal fights until reduced to half its hit points then flees. If the characters capture one of the criminals, a successful DC 13 Charisma (Intimidation) check compels the captive to reveal the following information:

• The group works for Daask, a criminal organization.
• The criminals were told to kill Coal via a letter sent by a Daask lieutenant named Garra. The letter has since been destroyed.

The criminals have no other useful information to share with the characters. They don’t know Garra is a half-ogre, and they don’t know how to contact her. A character who succeeds on a DC 13 Intelligence (History) check knows Daask’s members are mostly immigrants from Droaam and some of the local population from the Cogs and lower wards of Sharn.

Roleplaying Coal

After the Daask attack, Coal realizes she mistook the characters for assassins and apologizes. The warforged is soft-spoken and mild-mannered. If the characters ask her about Razor, she gets sad and offers the following information:

• Razor served with Coal in the Cyran military during the Last War, during which Coal lost her right arm.
• Razor and Coal had trouble finding work in Sharn, due to the fact that many businesses are reluctant to hire warforged foreigners. The pair became desperate for money.
• A month ago, Razor told Coal she had a job working on a long-term secret mission for Alden d’Orien, the scion of a dragonmarked house. Warforged from other parts of the city were also recruited to help in the task. The job required physical labor, so Coal’s injury prevented her from being able to do the job. Razor planned to save money then buy Coal a new arm so she could work with her.
• Razor would often come back from work sullen or wounded but never opened up about the job until shortly before she died. Razor confessed that the job was more dangerous than it seemed when she was recruited. Razor was planning to quit before she died.

After providing the characters with this information, Coal encourages the characters to question Alden d’Orien. The warforged then leaves Sharn, believing she is no longer safe in the city.

Dead Coal

If Coal dies at the hands of Daask forces, the characters can still salvage the mission by bringing Coal’s corpse to Sergeant Vilroy, who calls in a favor and gets a member of the Blackened Book to cast a speak with dead spell on Coal’s corpse.

Development

While many of the House Orien members live in the house’s enclave in Terminus, the more powerful members of the dragonmarked family live in the upper wards of the city. If the characters ask around, they learn Alden d’Orien has a residence called Unicorn Estate in the Mithral Tower district of Upper Central Plateau. If the characters consult with Sergeant Vilroy, she suggests that they confront Alden d’Orien, but cautions them to be diplomatic.

Mithral Tower

Mithral Tower is Sharn’s most desirable downtown residential district in Upper Central Plateau and is occupied by some of the city’s wealthiest citizens. When the characters enter this district, read or paraphrase the following boxed text to the players:

The gates of Unicorn Estate are open, allowing the characters walk onto the property after first presenting themselves to the guards and stating their business.

Many of the grand homes in Mithral Tower are true to the district’s name, boasting mithral filigree. The Sharn Watch seems to be everywhere in this neighborhood full of busy scions climbing into skycoaches, hosting opulent parties, and showing off their latest purchases at all hours of the day.

Unicorn Estate has a grand unicorn statue and unicorn-shaped topiaries adorning the yard beyond an open, wrought-iron gate. Flanking this gate are two guards in House Orien livery. Each wears a beautiful helm shaped like the head of a unicorn.

The magnificent marble home is clearly owned by one of the city’s wealthiest dragonmarked families. Seated on a patio couch are two figures engaged in quiet conversation: a haggard man in his late thirties and an attentive kalashtar who holds a rose-colored crystal in his hands. Two more guards dressed like the ones at the gates stand nearby.

A detect magic spell reveals that the grounds of the estate radiate auras of abjuration and illusion magic. Any humanoid that takes a long rest in the estate can attune to the property as if they were attuning to a magic item (see “Attunement” in chapter 7 of the Dungeon Master’s Guide). A creature attuned to Unicorn Estate can’t be affected by enchantment spells of 3rd level or lower while it is on the property unless it wishes to be. When a creature not attuned to the estate enters the property, the illusion of a unicorn appears wherever the creature is and brays loudly, announcing its presence. Four human Guard provide security at the estate, with two at the front gate and two following Alden.

Alden d’Orien (neutral male Brelish human noble) and his assistant, Vishtai (chaotic good male kalashtar; see chapter 6), are talking about official house business. Vishtai records notes in a spellshard. When the pair notices the characters, Alden calls them over and asks their business.

Roleplaying Alden

Alden, normally charming and inviting, is exhausted, guilty, and worried about his son Caden. He has not yet informed his wife, Iyana, that their son has been kidnapped. Alden and Iyana are separated, and Iyana lives in distant Fairhaven with her sister.

Alden is terse with the characters and wants them to leave him alone. The moment they bring up Daask, the Sharn Watch, or Coal, he becomes agitated, placing his hands over his face and emits a strangled scream. Use the following to guide the party’s interaction with Alden:

• Alden badly wants to rescue his son but is terrified of taking action and seeing Caden harmed.
• Caden was abducted almost a month ago. Alden tucked him in one night, he was gone the following morning with a message in his place.
• A hulking half-ogre met with Alden in the following days, explaining she needed expendable labor and easy transit of said labor and goods. As long as he complied, Caden would be returned unharmed when her business was done.
• If Alden backed out of the deal, the half-ogre said she would visit horrors on Caden that would make the Mockery sick.
• Alden breaks down sobbing after relaying this information and staggers inside.

Roleplaying Vishtai

Vishtai is Alden’s confidant and knows all about the situation with Daask. He hates bullies and pushes for Alden to try to rescue his son rather than to keep giving in to Daask’s demands. After the characters speak to Alden, Vishtai telepathically relays this message to them before hurrying to follow Alden inside:

“I have no doubt that Caden will die, regardless of Alden’s actions. Please, save Caden and return him to his father. House Orien would owe you a great debt, and you see how broken the man is. There is an enclosed lift five buildings north of this estate. Look for the medusa inside. Make sure you’re alone, as this lift will take you down to the dig site and, hopefully, Caden.”

If the party wishes to speak further, Vishtai will hurriedly offer the following bits of information:

• The kidnapper asked for warforged laborers, preferably immigrants. These laborers are digging for something in a sparsely inhabited area of Old Sharn.
• The lift the characters must use has been modified in some way to reach Old Sharn.
• If the characters rescue Caden, Vishtai is certain that he and Alden can help them track down the kidnapper.

Enclosed Lift

If the characters follow Vishtai’s directions, they find a lift with an enclosed car that Daask uses to reach the ruins of Old Sharn. Anyone wishing to use the lift must open a hidden panel and hot-wire it. An “out of order” sign hangs above a nearby button which opens the lift’s doors. When the doors open, read or paraphrase the following boxed text to the players:

The double doors on the enclosed lift car open to reveal the inside of a 15-foot cube made of stone with etchings of unicorn patterns covering its walls. A magic orb in the ceiling illuminates the lift. Two young adults—a shifter and a well-dressed human—talk nose to nose, cradling each other’s faces in a corner of the elevator, absorbed fully in each other and taking no notice of you.

Luna (chaotic neutral female shifter; see chapter 6) and Vonnie ir’Cardwan (neutral female Brelish human noble) are having a secret date on the lift. This is where they first met, so it’s a frequent rendezvous. They are bemused by the interruption and politely ask the party to leave, pointing out the lift is broken and growing more insistent and annoyed if the characters don’t comply. Any character who succeeds on a DC 12 Charisma (Diplomacy or Intimidation) check convinces the couple to leave the lift. If a character fails the Intimidation check or removes the secret panel (see “Medusa Panel” below), Vonnie gets upset and plainly states she is summoning the Watch and stalks away with Luna. Two minutes later, Vonnie returns with three city Watch Guard and accuses them of harassing her, vandalizing the lift, or both. The guards arrest the party if the lift appears tampered with. Presenting Vilroy’s writ and explaining the situation causes the guards to back off. Hostile action toward the young lovers or the guards results the guards attempting to subdue the party.

Medusa Panel

Upon entering the lift, the characters notice that the head of a medusa engraved amid all the unicorn heads hides the seams of a secret panel. A tool or weapon can be used to pry open the panel, behind which are several wires connecting the lift car to a small Eberron dragonshard. Each wire is connected to an individual pin-sized hole in the dragonshard. A character who is proficient in Arcana knows the dragonshard and wires control the movement of the lift. A character who makes a successful DC 13 Intelligence (Investigation or Arcana) check finds a loose wire among those attached to the dragonshard and a hole in the dragonshard with no wire attached. A character who attaches the loose wire to the dragonshard causes the lift to descend into the ruins of Old Sharn. While that wire is attached to the crystal, the lift cannot be called anywhere else in the city.

Bugbear Going Down

If the characters can’t find the hidden panel or figure out how to get the lift to Old Sharn, eventually the lift goes down, called to the tavern district of Olladra’s Kitchen in Lower Central by Orgon, a male bugbear working for Daask. Orgon wants to go down to Old Sharn’s ruins to help guard the relic excavation site. If Luna and Vonnie are on the lift when Orgon enters, they leave immediately.

When Orgon enters the lift, he demands the characters get out of the car. If the characters don’t leave, Orgon attacks them. Orgon fights until reduced to 10 hit points then surrenders. A successful DC 12 Charisma (Intimidation) check gets Orgon to admit to being a member of Daask and gets him to show the characters how to bring the lift down to the ruins of Old Sharn.

Saving Caden

If the characters rescue Caden d’Orien, his father can point the characters toward the boy’s kidnapper, Garra. This section details the Daask excavation site in Old Sharn where Caden and several warforged laborers are being held.

Daask Excavation site

When the characters take the lift down to the Daask excavation site, read or paraphrase the following boxed text to the players:

The lift seems to descend forever into the belly of Sharn. Several minutes pass as and the lift rattles and shakes, as if passing into some place it was not meant to go. This rumbling builds to a violent peak then the lift stops, and its doors open.

By the lift’s interior light, you can see into a vast, unlit cavern strewn with broken stonework from ancient buildings as far as you can see in every direction. The air is stale, and filled with dust and the scent of decay. These are the ruins of the cities atop which Sharn is built.

Ahead of you yawns a fifty-foot-diameter, ten-foot-deep pit that seems to have been intentionally dug. You hear the soft sobs of a young child coming from a wooden shed on the far side to the pit.

The cavern is irregular in shape and hundreds of feet in diameter. Its uneven ceiling ranges in height from 15 to 30 feet. Due to the rubble, the ground around the pit counts as difficult terrain.

Four Daask Goblin guard this area and rely on darkvision to see. They hide in the pit when the characters arrive then leap out to attack. A successful Wisdom (Perception) check contested by the goblins' Dexterity (Stealth) check notices the goblins. Otherwise the goblins surprise the characters. The goblins fight until one remains who flees into Old Sharn’s ruins. If a goblin is captured, a successful DC 12 Charisma (Intimidation) check gets the goblin to reveal that it works for Daask and that it was told by a half-ogre named Garra to guard this area. The goblins don’t know where Garra is.

Excavation Pit

The excavation pit that the warforged dug for Daask has also become the workers' holding area. A warforged corpse lies at the bottom of the pit, its head struck from its shoulders. Eleven other warforged in various states of disrepair sit chained together on the pit floor. Climbing the walls of the pit doesn’t require an ability check.

If the party does not intervene, the warforged laborers simply sit until release by Garra or another member of Daask. If the party frees them, the warforged scatter to other parts of the Cogs, grateful for the rescue. They might assist the party in a future adventure if you so choose.

Caden d’Orien

Caden d’Orien (noncombatant) is kept manacled hand and foot in a filthy, 15-foot-square shed on the side of the excavation pit opposite the lift. When the characters peer inside the shed, read or paraphrase the following boxed text to the players:

The wooden shed contains a small child covered in dust, wearing the once-fine, now-ruined livery of a House Orien. The boy sobs, shrunken into one corner, his face slack. Stale bread, smelly water, a pile of rags, and a chamber pot round out the accommodations.

Caden’s manacles, originally designed to bind goblins, are sturdy but old. A character who makes a successful DC 15 Dexterity check with thieves' tools picks the manacles' lock, and a character who succeeds on a DC 17 Strength (Athletics) check breaks the manacles loose.

A character who succeeds on a DC 11 Intelligence (Investigation) check finds the manacles' lock is smeared with oil of taggit. Any character that attempts to pick the lock without gloves is exposed to the poison and must succeed on a DC 13 Constitution saving throw or become poisoned for 24 hours. The poisoned creature is unconscious. It wakes up if it takes damage.

Roleplaying Caden

Caden is nearly catatonic from his ordeal. If freed, the six-year-old simply sits and stares in to the middle distance. Any character trained in Medicine knows that the boy needs proper food and water, rest, and his father. Using any sort of healing magic on the boy rouses him almost immediately. A successful DC 13 Charisma (Persuasion) check gets him to open up about his experience. A character who spends an hour consoling Caden and giving him something to eat and drink brings him around, no check required. If either of these methods succeed, Caden tells the characters he was kidnapped by a big, mean lady named Garra and imprisoned here by her goblin friends.

Treasure

Each goblin carries 1d6 gp and 1d6 sp in a pouch. One goblin (determined randomly) also wears a cheap necklace that consists of a banded agate (10 gp) tied to a loop of rope.

Optional Encounter: Ghost of Pfingston Nezzelech

When the characters decide to leave the Daask excavation site and return to the City of Towers, Old Sharn’s ruins reveal one final surprise. The ghost of a gnome inquisitive who died when the old city collapsed during the War of the Mark rises from the rubble and looks quizzically at the party. This encounter is optional; its purpose is to provide a fun way to give some background on the city.

The ghost’s name is Pfingston Nezzelech, and he’s been dead for over 500 years. This encounter can take as long as you’d like. Consider mentioning some of the different wards of the city you’d like the party to know.

Pfingston’s dress, mannerisms, and lack of contemporary knowledge mark him as belonging to a bygone era. He is cursed to walk this section of ruins, investigating a jewel heist that, by now, can’t be solved. Pfingston is eager to question the party about their whereabouts on the night of the heist and if they have any leads. If one or more party members opts to spend an hour listening to Pfingston’s theories and following him in his search of this ruined area, they witness Pfingston finding his skeleton tucked in a rubble-strewn corner. Upon finding his bones, Pfingston looks amazedly about at the party before fading away. Anyone who assisted him gains advantage on Wisdom (Perception) or Intelligence (Investigation) skill checks for the next 24 hours.

Returning to Alden

If the characters return Caden d’Orien safely to his father at Unicorn Estate, Alden is overjoyed. Still, he is saddened by the deaths of the warforged that he hired to work for Daask, but he doesn’t regret the actions that kept his son alive.

Alden thanks the characters and tells them everything he knows, which is all the information contained in the first three paragraphs of the “Story Overview”. In addition, he gives the characters the address of a Terminus apartment in Lower Tavick’s Landing that Garra uses as a safe house and a place to store the books and schemas found in Old Sharn’s ruins.

When the characters have all the information they need from Alden to find Garra, the Orien heir offers them a sum of 50 gp to leave his name and House Orien out of their report to the Sharn Watch. Alden is deeply ashamed of being manipulated in this way and doesn’t want to tarnish his reputation or his house. A character who succeeds on a DC 15 Charisma (Intimidation or Persuasion) check gets Alden to raise this amount to 100 gp. If the characters report Alden’s actions to the Sharn Watch, he manages to bury the scandal on his own, and the characters become his enemies (see “Conclusion”). If the characters conclude their business with Alden on friendly terms, he offers his residence as a place where they can rest and grab a bite to eat before moving on.

Treasure

As a gesture of goodwill and thanks, Vishtai offers each character a unicorn-shaped feather token inset with the sigil of House Orien.

Skycoach Ride

While the characters were off rescuing Caden d’Orien, Garra captured and interrogated Sergeant Vilroy and learned about the characters' meddling. In this section, Garra orders a changeling named Jas to adopt Sergeant Vilroy’s appearance and lead the characters into a trap.

Need a Lift?

Jas (neutral evil changeling; see chapter 6) approaches the characters in the guise of Sergeant Vilroy sometime after they leave Mithral Tower. Read or paraphrase the following boxed text to the players when this occurs:

As you cross a bridge that views the city from a dizzying height, you hear a familiar voice from above. “Need a lift?” asks Sergeant Vilroy as she descends toward you in a skycoach.

“Vilroy” urges the characters to board the skycoach and share what they have learned thus far. If the characters mention Garra’s safe house, the changeling tells them there’s no time to waste and suggests the skycoach is the fastest means of getting there. If the characters ask the sergeant how she found them, the changeling replies, “I work for the Sharn Watch. Knowing things is my job!” If the characters accept the ride, the skycoach takes them to area T1 of Terminus. Unknown to Jas, Garra has also arranged for a Daask strike team to attack the skycoach en route.

Any character who suspects that “Vilroy” is hiding something can make a Wisdom (Insight) check contested by the changeling’s Charisma (Deception) check. A character who wins the contest detects slight differences in the sergeant’s facial expressions, suggesting that she’s not the same person the party interacted with previously. Jas doesn’t have details of any prior conversations the party had with the real Sergeant Vilroy and flubs any sustained questioning.

If the characters realize they’re not dealing with the real Sergeant Vilroy and confront the changeling, Jas leaps out of the skycoach, uses a feather token to land safely, and flees into the crowded city. Each character has one turn to act before the unpiloted skycoach crashes. A character proficient with air vehicles who makes a successful DC 12 Intelligence check as an action gains control of the skycoach and stops it from falling. If the coach crashes, the characters are thrown from it as it hurdles down. Use the Falling in Sharn table in chapter 3 to determine what happens to characters who fall. The party has three rounds to catch Jas before the changeling adopts a new guise.

If the characters capture Jas, the changeling reveals that Garra is leaving Sharn on a lightning rail bound for Wroat. The changeling doesn’t know about Garra’s trap and simply has instructions to deliver the characters.

Daask Gnolls

As the characters travel to Terminus either on foot or by skycoach, they are accosted by a Daask strike team consisting of five Gnoll. Garra has sent the gnolls to kill the characters if possible, or at least soften them up before they arrive at her Terminus safe house. You can describe them to the players as follows:

Zipping between the towers of Sharn and converging on your location are five creatures riding disks of crackling green energy. Each creature is a lanky humanoid covered in fur, with the head of a hyena. They cackle maniacally, nock arrows, and take aim at you with their longbows.

Each gnoll rides a magical, 3-foot-diameter disk that can support up to 250 pounds. A creature on a disk can use its bonus action to move the disk up to 60 feet in any direction—fast enough to keep pace with the skycoaches of Sharn. A disk otherwise hovers in place. These disks were created using a spell similar to Tenser’s floating disk that was cast by a Daask wizard who does not appear in this adventure. The spell ends in 30 minutes, after which the disks disappear.

The gnolls initially keep their distance, peppering the characters with arrows. The gnolls become frustrated and close to melee range if the characters take advantage of cover and the gnolls' ranged attacks prove ineffective. Once three gnolls are disposed of, the remainder flee on their disks or on foot.

Terminus

Terminus in Lower Tavick’s Landing is named for Terminus Station, a massive House Orien enclave that serves as the endpoint for the Orien lightning rail. Map 4.14 shows a cross-section and floor plan of the station. The Terminus district is right near Wroann’s Gate, most travelers' entry point into Sharn. It bustles with crowds, pickpockets, con artists, and other criminals looking to take advantage of the city’s visitors.

Garra has an apartment in Terminus where she left a trap for the characters. The half-ogre took the books and schemas recovered in Old Sharn’s ruins and boarded a lightning rail bound for Wroat that’s about to leave Terminus Station.

Terminus Features

The buildings in Terminus are made of stone. Their walls require a successful DC 15 Strength (Athletics) check to climb without equipment. The interior areas of buildings are built to accommodate creatures of various sizes and have 15-foot-high ceilings and doorways.

A building’s doors are made of wood. Each door has AC 15, 27 hit points, and immunity to poison and psychic damage. If a door is locked, its lock can be picked with a successful DC 15 Dexterity check with thieves' tools, and the door can be forced open with a successful DC 17 Strength (Athletics) check.

Everbright lantern (see chapter 5) hanging from the ceilings and walls illuminate interior areas.

Buildings in Terminus have openable glass windows large enough that a Medium or smaller creature can fit through one without a problem, while a Large creature can squeeze through. These windows have AC 13, 4 hit points, and immunity to poison and psychic damage. The windows can be locked from the inside. A character that succeeds on a DC 15 Dexterity check with thieves' tools unlocks a window from the outside.

If a creature makes a Strength (Athletics) check to shove another creature against a window (see “Shoving a Creature” in chapter 9 of the Player’s Handbook) and succeeds on the check by 5 or more, the window’s glass is destroyed and the shoved creature falls through the window’s opening (see “Falling” below).

Bystanders

Terminus has busy streets, and most of the visitors and residents flee at the first sign of trouble. However, some bystanders might assist the party in their fight with Daask. Kraz, described below, is one example of a helpful bystander.

Kraz is a gnoll porter who has endured several run-ins with Daask criminals in the past and bears them no love. At the time of your choosing, Kraz rushes a member of Daask and knocks the affected creature prone. Consider having Kraz intervene in area T14.

Falling

Use the Falling in Sharn table in chapter 3 when a creature falls through a window or off the top of a bridge or structure in the higher levels of Terminus and doesn’t have a way to land safely (such as the feather fall spell).

Sharn Watch Guards

The Sharn Watch has a modest presence in Terminus. Its guards defend wealthy visitors and the holdings of House Orien. If combat breaks out in the streets or if a bystander calls for the Sharn Watch, roll a d20 on initiative count 0 during each round the disturbance occurs. On a result of 18 or higher, 1d4 Sharn Watch Guard arrive and attempt to arrest anyone involved in a crime.

Daask Forces

Several members of Daask are stationed in Terminus, ready to attack the characters to give Garra a chance to get away. Unless noted otherwise, members of Daask attack the characters, fighting until reduced to half hit points then fleeing. If any member of Daask is captured, a character who makes a successful DC 12 Charisma (Intimidation) check gets the Daask member to reveal that Garra is leaving Sharn on a lightning rail bound for Wroat.

Changeling Treachery

If the characters are traveling with Jas (see “Skycoach Ride” earlier in the adventure), the changeling attempts to lead them into the trap laid in Garra’s safe house (area T4b). The changeling attacks the characters the first time they battle other members of Daask.

Where’s Terminus Station?

At some point during their exploration of Terminus, the characters learn that Garra has boarded a lightning rail getting ready to leave Sharn if they don’t know this already. If the characters ask any bystanders, they learn the location of the lift (area T10) that leads to Terminus Station.

Areas of Terminus (1-7)

The following encounter locations are keyed to map 4.14. This map does not depict the entire district of Terminus, but it shows the most likely places the characters explore in this adventure.

T1. Skycoach Platform

A large platform at the top of a tower is crowded with a diverse crew of humanoids. A prominent dock juts out from the tower, overlooking the crowded bridges and streets below. An unoccupied skycoach with a dragon-

shaped prow is chained to the south platform.

A crowd of 2d8 Commoner and 1d4 Noble is gathered on the platform waiting to hire skycoaches.

The docked skycoach belongs to an off-duty professional driver named Belga Twillo. The chain anchoring the skycoach to the dock has AC 19, 10 hit points, and immunity to poison and psychic damage. A character who makes a successful DC 17 Dexterity check with thieves' tools picks the chain’s lock. A bystander who catches a character trying to steal the skycoach shouts for the Sharn Watch (see “Sharn Watch Personalities”).

T2. Commerce Stair

This 10-foot-wide outdoor spiral staircase wraps around a tower containing several taverns and shops that sell souvenirs and gifts for the city’s visitors to bring home to loved ones. The stair leads from the skycoach platform (area T1) to the roof of the tenement tower.

T3. Tenement Tower Stairs

This interior staircase connects the tenement tower roof to areas T4, T5, and T6.

T4. Top-Level Apartments

The doors to both apartments on this level are locked.

T4a. Martisha’s Apartment

Martisha Kullandra (neutral female Brelish human magewright; see chapter 6) lives in this modestly furnished studio apartment. If the characters break into the 80-year-old’s apartment, Martisha flees, fighting for her life if she must. If the characters knock on her door, Martisha shouts to them through the door to go away.

A character who succeeds on DC 12 Charisma (Persuasion) check convinces Martisha to talk to the characters. If asked about Garra, Martisha gives the characters the following information:

• Martisha has a half-ogre neighbor who lives in the other apartment on this floor.
• The half-ogre never bothered Martisha but does have loud guests from time to time, including many monstrous immigrants from Droaam, coming and going at all hours.
• Martisha saw the half-ogre leave the apartment minutes before the characters arrived.

T4b. Garra’s Living Area

When the characters enter this area, read or paraphrase the following boxed text to the players:

Cabinets hang on the north wall of this large room, which is hazy with the smell of tobacco. Near the east wall stands an overstuffed couch. An rectangular table turned on its side blocks a closed door on the south wall.

Four kenku cutpurses working for Daask hide in two groups of two: one group behind the couch, the other behind the table. A character with a passive Wisdom (Perception) score of 13 or higher is not surprised by the kenku, which prefer to attack from behind the furniture. When using the couch and table for protection, a creature gains half cover. The cabinets are empty.

T4c. Garra’s Bedroom

When the characters enter this area, read the following boxed text to the players:

A frantic gnoll is picking up papers from the floor to throw into a burning brazier at the center of the room. Beyond the brazier, Sergeant Vilroy is bound at the hands and feet with rope, lying bloodied and unconscious on a large mattress.

Nur, a Daask gnoll, is burning Garra’s documents as ordered by the half-ogre. Of the documents that remain on the floor, two are of interest. One is a receipt for a lightning rail ticket, indicating the time, date, and journey of Garra’s lightning rail trip to Wroat. The other document contains a list of the names and addresses of the warforged hired to work in the ruins of Old Sharn. You can add other documents that could act as story hooks for future adventures.

Sergeant Germaine Vilroy (neutral female Brelish human veteran) is restrained and unconscious and currently has 5 hit points remaining. After getting the information she needed from Germaine, Garra knocked her out using oil of taggit (see “Caden d’Orien” earlier in this adventure). A character can remove the ropes binding the sergeant as an action. If the characters wake up Germaine, she tells the characters to continue pursuing Garra and that she can get help for herself.

T5. Lower-Level Apartments

The lower-level apartments have similar layouts to the ones in area T4 but house different creatures. The door to every apartment is locked. If you need occupants for an apartment, use the Apartment Occupants table to generate them. There is a 10 percent chance that an occupant knows what Martisha Kullandra knows about Garra (see area T4a).

Apartment Occupants

T6. Skybridge

This stone skybridge connects the tenement building to the building containing the lift. A Daask harpy and a group of 1d4 Commoner loiter on the bridge when the characters arrive. The commoners pose no threat, but the harpy attacks the characters on sight, using her Luring Song to bring them to her if they flee.

T7. Graffiti Hall

This stone hall is covered in graffiti. Crude paintings and phrases such as “TYRANTS RULE!” and “CYRANS GO HOME!” adorn the walls and ceiling.

A hidden door with a peephole in this hall connects to a Daask hideout (area T8). A character with a passive Wisdom (Perception) score of 15 or higher notices the peephole and the outline of the door.

A Daask shifter operative in area T8 watches the hall through the peephole. If the shifter notices the characters, the creatures in area T8 open the door and attack.

Areas of Terminus (8-14)

T8. Daask Hideout

This room reeks of urine and body odor. The floor is covered in empty liquor bottles, food waste, and old copies of the Sharn Inquisitive.

Two Daask operatives, a chaotic neutral shifter named Bartram (see chapter 6) and his worg companion are stationed here. Bartram and the worg are surly and never shy away from a fight. That said, they will happily leave the party alone if handed a bribe of 10 gp or more.

T9. Interrogation Room

A groaning halfling is tied to a wood chair in the center of this room, his shirt stained with blood and sweat, and his head covered in a canvas bag.

Corrin Delmaco is a male lightfoot halfling who works for the Boromar Clan. The halfling tried to infiltrate Daask and was captured. He is being held in the hideout while Daask agents torture him for information.

Corrin Delmaco is a lawful evil spy with the following changes:

• He is Small, has a hit point maximum of 21 (6d6), and has 10 hit points remaining.
• He has the following racial traits: He can move through the space of a Medium or larger creature. He has advantage on saving throws against being frightened. He speaks Common, Halfling, and thieves' cant.

Corrin claims to have no idea why Daask abducted him and begs for the characters to free him. A character who succeeds on a Wisdom (Insight) check contested by Corrin’s Charisma (Deception) check knows the halfling is lying. If pressed, Corrin admits his connection to the Boromar Clan, and tells the characters it would be mean a lot to the powerful halfling family if they freed him.

A character can untie Corrin from the chair as an action. Corrin then flees the scene and tells the Boromars of his rescuers, which could lead to more adventures (see “Conclusion” at the end of this chapter).

T10. Terminus Station Lift

This lift connects Terminus Station with the higher levels of the Terminus district.

T11. Bodega

A small bell above the door rings as you enter this store. Its many shelves are packed with bottled drinks, packaged food that is ready to eat, souvenirs, and newspapers. A kenku wearing spectacles and standing behind a counter says, “Buy something, will ya?” in an old woman’s voice.

This store sells is run by Gurty, an elderly kenku. If the characters ask Gurty about Garra, the kenku mimics the half-ogre’s voice, saying, “My coach is leaving soon. Hurry it up, or I’ll pluck ya, stupid bird.”

T12. Ticket Booth

A commoner in the livery of House Orien works in this area, selling tickets through a small opening in a glass window to people on the platform. The door to the booth is locked from the inside. Money collected from ticket sales is placed in a small slot in a magic floor safe that can only be opened by a dwarf bearing the Mark of Warding.

T13. Bathroom

The bathroom contains six stalls, each with a toilet, and a 3-foot-high pillar at the center of the room with a cleansing stone embedded in its top.

T14. Station Platform

The sound of lightning rail trains stopping and starting elsewhere in Terminus Station echoes throughout the platform. A crowd of people is gathered near a lightning rail train crackling with arcs of blue energy. “If you’re headed to Wroat, you’ll have to catch the next one!” cries a conductor in the livery of House Orien as the train begins moving out of the station.

A crowd of 2d10 Commoner and 2d4 Noble gathers on the platform along with six hostile human Bandit who belong to Daask. The bandits are here to cover Garra’s escape and attack characters who try to board the departing train.

To catch Garra, the characters need to board the lightning rail train leaving the station. The coach has ten cars: a helm car (at the front), a first-class car, a galley car, a dining car, two standard cars, two sleeper cars, a steerage car, and a cargo car (at the rear).

The characters have 30 seconds (5 rounds) to catch the coach before it leaves Terminus Station. A character can jump onto a lightning rail car by making a successful DC 10 Strength (Athletics) check. A character who fails this check takes 3 (1d6) bludgeoning damage and falls prone on the platform. At the start of round six, the coach moves 20 feet per round for three rounds before accelerating to top speed.

Left at the Station

If none of the characters board the lightning rail train, Garra gets away with the books and schemas found in Old Sharn’s ruins. A more likely scenario is that one or more characters are left behind as the others board the train. In this case, keep the initiative order and alternate between the characters stuck on the platform with the Daask bandits and the characters exploring the train. The characters who remain at the station can seek out an adventurous skycoach driver and bribe them to fly after the train before making a DC 13 Dexterity (Acrobatics) check to leap onto the roof of a train car safely. Characters who fail the check take fall prone on the roof of the car and take bludgeoning damage based on the distance fallen (1d6 per 10 feet).

Lightning Rail to Wroat

After making it onto the lightning rail train, the characters must explore it to find Garra.

Exploring the Coach

Each car has a human conductor (commoner) wearing the livery of House Orien. When a character enters a car, the conductor asks to see the character’s ticket. If the character doesn’t have a ticket, the conductor demands the character pay 15 gp (the price of a fare to First Tower, plus a sizeable fine) or face armed guards who attempt to arrest the character at the next stop. A character who makes a successful DC 14 Charisma (Intimidation or Persuasion) check convinces the conductor to stand down without the character paying. If the character can’t pay and fails to convince the conductor to stand down, this conductor sends word throughout the train to the other conductors to keep an eye on the character.

If the characters move outside the coach, they must either move along the roof or cling to the sides of the train cars to find Garra.

Walking on Rooftops

A creature moving across the train car roofs must succeed on a DC 10 Dexterity (Acrobatics) check to keep its balance. A creature that fails this check by 4 or less slips and falls prone on the roof. A creature that fails this check by 5 or more falls off the train and takes 7 (2d6) bludgeoning damage.

Climbing the Sides

A creature climbing along the sides of the cars must succeed on a DC 10 Strength (Athletics) check to hang on. A creature that fails this check almost loses its grip and makes no progress. A creature that fails this check by 5 or more falls off the train and takes 7 (2d6) bludgeoning damage.

Confronting Garra

When the characters peer into the foremost cabin of the first-class car, read or paraphrase the following:

An eight-foot-tall muscular woman with a tusked, protruding jaw lounges on a couch in a luxury passenger car. She reads the Sharn Inquisitive and keeps a battleaxe within arm’s reach. A wooden chest rests by her feet, and a table lined with fine foods and bottles of spirits stands close by.

Garra paid for the privilege of a private car. She is a chaotic evil Half-Ogre (Ogrillon) with Intelligence and Wisdom scores of 14 (+2). Her passive Wisdom (Perception) score is 12.

Rot, a chaotic evil male sprite that works for Daask, is also in the car and invisible when the characters enter. The sprite is Garra’s servant—a gift from Niho Koi. If the characters attack Garra, Rot shoots at them with his bow; if Garra falls, the sprite flees. Rot’s mind has been warped by Niho Koi’s magic, and he can’t provide any useful information to the characters if captured.

If Garra feels outnumbered, she smashes the closest window and climbs onto the roof, where she can more easily shove enemies off the train.

Roleplaying Garra

Garra has no remorse when it comes to her crimes and can always rationalize her behavior. When she notices the characters, Garra puts up her hands to indicate she means them no harm. She is impressed that the characters managed to catch up with her. The half-ogre offers a 100 gp bribe to the group for the characters to tell the Sharn Watch she escaped and have that be the end of it. If the characters express interest in joining Daask, she chuckles asks why they’d do such a thing, and if she’s satisfied with the answer, obliges. Garra pays new recruits 100 gp each, promises there is more reward to come, and says the characters' first task is to help her transport the chest to Droaam from Wroat. If the characters refuse, Garra attacks. Garra is willing to die for Daask and fights accordingly.

Garra doesn’t know what is in books or schemas, as these items are written in a coded magical language. She only knows that Niho Koi desires the items.

Garra holds the key to her chest, which weighs 50 pounds. A character who makes a successful DC 13 Dexterity check with thieves' tools picks the lock, and a character who makes a successful DC 15 Strength (Athletics) check forces the chest open. The chest contains Garra’s treasure (see below), thirteen books, and three paper schemas in scroll tubes. Each book and schema is written in a magically coded language that can’t be read by the comprehend languages spell. Finding a way to read these documents is another adventure.

Treasure

In addition to the books and schemas, the chest contains gem of brightness with 32 charges, a feather token, and 600 gp.

Stop the Coach!

If the characters kill Garra in noisy combat, the lightning rail coach stops, and a House Orien conductor (commoner) checks on the disturbance. If the characters explain that they are working with the Sharn Watch to catch a murderer and present their writ, the conductor has the coach halted at the next stop, with guards waiting to verify the characters' claims.

Conclusion

If the characters fail to stop Garra, she gets away and brings the books and schemas to Niho Koi in Droaam. The information contained in these documents is up to you, but it might be dangerous information the Daughters of Sora Kell could weaponize. The characters could face the rising threat of Droaam in future adventures. See the “Droaam” section earlier in this chapter for more adventure ideas.

There are several other possibilities for future adventures, depending on how this story played out:

• If the characters killed Garra, they are paid their reward of 50 gp each, and members of the Sharn Watch continue to contract the characters for work.
• If the characters agreed to work for Garra, they become members of Daask. If the characters killed Garra, they become enemies of Daask.
• If the characters returned Caden d’Orien to his father, Alden might ask the characters for help with other tasks, or he might see them as his enemies if they reported him to the Sharn Watch.
• If the characters freed Corrin Delmaco (see area T9 of Terminus) or if they killed Garra, the Boromar Clan sees them as potential allies. If the characters ally with Daask, the Boromar Clan sees them as enemies.
• The characters' heroics catch the attention of a House Lyrandar airship captain seeking a crew for a dangerous expedition to some far-flung corner of Khorvaire, or perhaps even as far away as Xen’drik or Argonnessen. See chapter 2 for possible adventure locations.